


Give Me Time To Be Happy That You're Alive

by Maria_Coley



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Batman: Cataclysm (1999), DCU (Comics)
Genre: Earthquakes, Gen, Natural Disasters, Set during the Batman: Cataclysm storyline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:33:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27921571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maria_Coley/pseuds/Maria_Coley
Summary: The earthquake had hit Gotham at 7 pm on Thursday. To Dick, the three days since had felt like three years. Three years of pure hell, crawling through the rubble and stone of what remained of the city, searching for survivors and leaving behind those who had perished. People screaming and crying for help, with no guarantee that help would come.---In the aftermath of the earthquake that destroyed Gotham, Dick takes a moment to be relieved that Bruce is still alive.
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne
Comments: 7
Kudos: 43





	Give Me Time To Be Happy That You're Alive

**Author's Note:**

> I read the Batman: Cataclysm story and was so disappointed that there wasn't really a good reunion scene between Bruce and any of his protégés after they've been out of contact for several hours with no way of knowing if the other is alive or not. So, I whipped this up in an evening for my own satisfaction.

The earthquake had hit Gotham at 7 pm on Thursday. To Dick, the three days since had felt like three years. Three years of pure hell, crawling through the rubble and stone of what remained of the city, searching for survivors and leaving behind those who had perished. People screaming and crying for help, with no guarantee that help would come. The air was thick with dust and smoke, and the fires tainted the remains of the Gotham skyline an ominous red, despite the valiant effort of the fire brigade and any volunteers. Dick knew that the chance of putting out the fires was very slim: at this point all they could hope for was to keep the flames from spreading further and causing more damage.

Not that there was a lot left that hadn’t already been destroyed by the quake and the aftershocks that came with it.

Dick waded through to rubble of the manor to get to the path they had cleared down to the cave, each step feeling heavy and stiff, as if a ten-ton weight was strapped to each of his feet. He was exhausted and hungry; no doubt running on his last fumes ten times over. His energy had been spent helping the citizens of Gotham anyway he could, and over the last few days he had been stretched thin.

With the manor caving in on itself, exposing the bat cave to the sky like an open wound, there weren’t many safe places to rest. Alfred and Harold had taken it upon themselves to initiate the cleanup and secure the remaining structures so that it wouldn’t all topple down on their heads, and in that process they had cleared a portion of the cave where they could setup a temporary camp while they worked.

Dick was not sure how many hours he’d been awake and running all over the city. His vision had started blurring slightly at the edges and it had become harder to hold onto the grappling line on the swing, racing from site to site trying to find any sign of survivors. While his heart hurt to leave those in need to their fate, he also knows that Nightwing is of no use to anyone if he can barely stand due to exhaustion. The others know that as well: while they all do what they can to help out in the city, they all return to manor to fill up on food and take a short rest to recharge. Alfred, bless the man, had managed to dig out both food and medical supplies and had made it his main mission to ensure that the heroes were fed and their injuries taken care of to the best of his abilities. When one of them returned to the cave, they ate, dressed their wounds and maybe took a nap, only so they could go back out into hellscape an hour or two later.

Dick made his way down into the cave to the little space they had managed to clear out enough to set up the small camp with resting cots they’d manage to salvage from the cave’s med bay.

“Alfred?” He called and smiled slightly when he heard a response from the back.

“Over here, Master Dick! Would you kindly take a roll of bandages with you?” Dick frowned and did as asked, snatching the roll from the neatly stacked pile by the first cot. Someone was hurt then, but it didn’t appear to be life threatening, or else Alfred would sound much more urgent.

Behind a fallen beam, he found Bruce and Alfred sitting on the cave floor. Bruce had the cowl pulled up and was leaning back against the wall; he appeared to have his eyes closed but it was hard to tell with the white cowl lenses. Alfred was crouched by his side and working diligently at cleaning a wound running up the former’s forearm.

“Hey,” Dick greeted and handed the roll of bandages to Alfred’s waiting hand. “You okay?” he asked Bruce. Bruce rolled his head back to look up at him, the white lenses of the cowl betraying nothing as he looked him over, before giving a short nod.

“Just a scratch. Shallow cut,” Dick nodded in acknowledgement. Nothing too bad then.

“Even a shallow cut needs medical attention to avoid infection, Master Bruce,” Alfred scoffed as expertly rolled the bandage around his arm. Bruce said nothing in return, instead focusing on Dick.

“Status,” he commanded, and Dick reflexively straightened his back, an old relic from the days when he wore the reds, greens and yellows instead of the blues and blacks.

“Fine, no serious injuries. Some scratches and bruises, some pain in my arms from grappling and lifting but mostly I’m just tired,” he reeled off. “Came back to crash for an hour or two, try and get some energy back before going out there.”

Alfred gave an approving nod as he pushed himself to his feet. “Excellent idea, young sir. I’ll prepare a cot for you,” Dick smiled and reached out to squeeze the old butler’s shoulder gratefully. “Thanks Alfie.”

The corner of Alfred’s mouth twitched upwards and he gave Dick’s hand a reassuring squeeze back before turning his head to Bruce, who had propped his arm up on one knee and was slumping back against the rock formation behind him. Every line of his body read exhaustion. “You should consider doing the same, Master Bruce. Batman is of no help to anyone if he is dead on his feet,” Bruce only let out a grunt and waved him off, too tired to argue. Alfred raised an eyebrow. “I will fetch you some water and some food, and then you should take at least an hour nap before you go back out there,” with that he turned and left Dick and Bruce alone in the cave.

Bruce let out a deep sigh and reached up to pull the cowl down, dragging his hands over his face before leaning his head back and closing his eyes. He looked like crap: his skin was streaked with dirt and there were some impressive dark circles under his eyes from stress and lack of sleep. His hair was filthy and stuck together in some places, no doubt a combination of wearing the cowl for hours on end and his swim in the Gotham river. The man had worked with basically no break since the quake hit, but it seemed that he now had reached his limit. After all, the Batman is just a man in the end.

Dick suddenly felt a lump form in his throat as he looked down at his mentor. There had not been a lot of time to stop and reflect on everything that had gone down in the last 70 hours. Dick remember forcing down the dread, the fear and worry for his loved ones in Gotham when he had seen the news back in Blüdhaven. Instead of wallowing he had acted, throwing himself out of the bar where he worked and made his way to Gotham in almost half the time it would normally have taken him.

The destruction had been total, and he had mentally prepared himself the worst. The earthshattering relief to find Barbara, alive and whole and taking charge of the rescue operation had almost been enough for him to break out in tears. To have Tim, who had not even been in Gotham at the time the quake hit, suddenly appear and be by his side had filled him with so much gratitude that he could burst. Seeing the boy in the flesh, talking and moving had done wonders to keep Dick’s frying nerves in check.

He wasn’t sure he would have been able to make it through the wreckage of Wayne Manor without Tim at his side, climbing over the crushed remains of Dick’s childhood home, searching for Alfred and Bruce and praying to any god that would listen for them to be okay. He had found Alfred and Harold down in the cave, and the hug he received from the old butler had been tight enough that it had been hard to breathe.

The joy had been short-lived however: Batman had been nowhere to be found, and none of them had heard anything from Bruce for hours. For all they knew, Bruce could have never made it out of the cave, could have drowned somewhere in the subterranean stream down below, buried under stones as a result of the aftershocks of the quake.

There had been no time to search for him, and there were many others that needed their help. And so, Nightwing and Robin had thrown themselves headfirst into the fire.

It had been hours later when Batman showed up at the cave, and even then, there had been no time for happy reunions. They got straight to work; Robin had been set to analyse the tape from the Quakemaster to see if he could find any clues to the villain’s whereabouts, while Batman and Nightwing, with the aid of Oracle on comms, had set out for the city again.

Now, hours later, Dick let himself sink down to the floor of the cave with a small groan, shifting over to sit beside Bruce, making himself as comfortable against the cold stone as possible. He pressed himself close to Bruce’s side and swallowed as he leaned over to rest his head on Bruce’s shoulder. Bruce said nothing, but Dick could feel him turning his face towards the younger man’s hair, a quiet acknowledgement. Dick drew in a shaky breath and all at once he felt all of the worry he had kept bottled up raise and spill over, like small trickles over the edges of a cup. His eyes burned with unshed tears behind his mask and his voice choked slightly when he whispered: “I’m **so** glad you’re okay…”

Bruce’s body under him relaxed under him with a deep sigh, like a puppet getting its strings cut. Dick let out a quiet sob when one of Bruce’s hands came up to bury itself in his hair. The angle was a bit awkward as they were sitting side by side, but it felt so good to have that hand press his head tighter against the side of Bruce’s neck, and for Bruce to lay his cheek against Dick’s dark hair. They sat like that for a few moments, silently seeking comfort from each other.

“Thank you,” Bruce’s voice rumbled lowly under his ear, “for coming here,” he sounded drained, but grateful for Dick’s presence, his thumb slowly rubbing circles against Dick’s scalp.

Dick sniffed and replied wetly: “Of course. Of course, I did, I came as soon as I saw the news. I-” he choked and pressed his face further into Bruce’s neck. Bruce shifted him a little to be to slip his arm around Dick’s back to give him a loose on-armed hug.

“I’m sorry Dick. Were you at work?” He asked, and Dick nodded.

“Yeah, I left mid shift. Hopefully Mr Hogan won’t fire me for it,” Bruce let out a sigh and squeezed him a bit tighter.

“I’m sure he understands, he knows you have family in Gotham.”

Dick grunted in response. They sat there for a few more minutes before Bruce nudged him gently. “C’mon, time to get up. Before Alfred comes and yells at us for sleeping on the floor,” Dick huffed out an amused snort but got up to his feet, pulling Bruce up along with him, and together they made their way over to the camp.

There was still a lot of work to do, a lot of tragedy to face, and the fate of their city was still unknown.

But in this moment, Dick could let himself be happy that his family was at least alive.

**Author's Note:**

> If you made to the end, thank you so much for reading! This is like the first time in like 10 years I've written a fanfic, and I feel very awkward about it. ^^;


End file.
